Crate



June 12, 1945. A.- 1.. KIFF 7 378,224

CRATE Filed May 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 1945- A. L. KIFF 2,378,224

CRATE Filed May 5, 1942 Z SheetS-Sheet 2 Al. ff/FF Patented June 12, 1945 olwm 7 Arthur L. Kifl', Hammondsport, s; Y.

' t Application May 5, 1942, Serial No. 441,831

,2 Claims. (or. ar a);

This invention relates to packing crates, and shipping cases, more particularly to crates and cases for packing a plurality of unit packages of consumer products such as canned'and package goods of every description, breakfast foods, cereals, canned goods in-cans or in substitutes for cans, soap powders, tobacco, cigarettes and cigar cartons, etc., the like of which are now customarily packed in kraft board cartons or the like, which cartons'in'most instances are discarded as'waste after their first ,use. I'Ihe imperative need of conserving the type of papercf which thesecartons are made makes it important that some other method of shipping such commodities be provided.

To accomplish this object, I propose the use oi knock-down cartons constructed primarily of.

a cheap grade of lumber, which by reason of their structure and arrangement can be readily set-up gr knocked down without any injury to the crate members and the component parts ofwhich can be packed in compact form for'return, so that each crate can bev used for an indefinite period and subjected only to actual deterioration from use.v I

One of the objects of the invention is toprovide a knock-down crate in which the end members are provided with registering socket loops or recess notches .on their top and bottom edges adapted to snugly receive the rabbeted ends of longitudinal slats, the shoulders of the rabbets forming abutments for the end pieces whereby the. latter are inherently positioned parallel to one another whenthe crate is set up, and the parallelepipedal shape of-thecrate determined and rigidly maintained, the securing of the crate in assembled position being accomplished solely by means of a slat or slats extending acrossthe sidesof the crate and nailed, screwed or otherwise fastened to the sideedges of the end pieces Another object of the invention is to provide a kpock-down-crate in which the top slats and the side slats which are adjacent the upper side edges of the crate come together to form' a closed Figure l is a, perspective view of a'sha-ll'ow'type crateembodying the principles of the inven-- tion; v s

Figure '2 is a top plan view of the same?" Figure 3is a perspective view of the adjacent portions of the members involved in the corner] construction and assembly;

Figure 4 is anend elevation or one of the'end members in the modification shown in Figures 1 to fiincl'us'ivey v i Figure 5' is a perspective view ofa crate ofthe deep-"type embodying the principles of the in ventioni e Figure 6' is a perspective vView showing two crates in 'nested' relation; y Y

Figure 7 is a-perspective view showing details of construction'in a modified form of the invention, theparts being in disassembled relation;

Figure 8 is-a.sectional view showing the structure of figure 7 in assembled relation.' I

Referring now in detail to; the several figures, and first adverting' to that form of tiie'inve'n-' tion illustrated in Figures 1 to '4; the crateis composed, of the two end members I and 2; which are preferably rectangular in shape and are' preferably provided with the socket loops- 3 and ton their top edges and the socket loops" 5,6 and! secured to their bottom edges. The topsocket loops 3 and l preferably terminate flush withthe vertical end edges. of the end members. Said socket loops are preferably rectangular in form and" thoseon the bottom of the end members are so spaced as to fit between the-socket loops on top of the end members when one crate isrnested' upon another. The longitudinal slats'8 and 9 which formthe top structure of the crate are formed with anjexterior rabbet adjacent their outer ends-defining the reduced portion In and the shoulder. v

;The longitudinal slats l2, [Band I I which'define the bottom structure ofthe crate are rab-'. betedon both sides adjacent their ends forming the reduced end portions I55 and the 'shoul'a derslfand l8.

I The' crate is assembled by pushing thereduced ders II, I! and I8 of the top and bottom slats: I

against the socket loops 3, 4, '5', 6 and '1 of the end members. It is thus not necessary for, the

i one who assembles the crate to have; any specialskill, nor for him to make anymeasurements in orrlcc w order to set up the crate, as the parts inherently support one another in parallelepipedal relation.

It is not essential to provide any securing means for the top and bottom slats and the end members. Consequently, it is not necessary to scarify these members by the removal or replacing of securing means, and they may be used an indefinite number of times without deterioration. Therefore, if desired, the end members and the top and bottom slats may be made of fairly good material.

The parts of the crate are secured together by the side slats l9 and 20 which are secured to the end members by the screw 2| which is merely exemplary of any suitable form of securing means such as a nail or other form of fastening.

Eventually, the side slats l9 and 20 may become defaced at the ends, due to the repeated withdrawal or replacement of the securing means so that it may be necessary to replace these slats more frequently than the other portions of the crate and they may, if desired, be made of cheaper or more common material.

The end members, top and bottom slats, may be set up in the manner indicated and one of the side slats secured in place. The crate may then be stood on one side and the contents placed in it from the other open side. After packing, thefinal' side slat may be secured in place. It will be noted in Figure 1 that the-side slats l9 and 20 may contact with the outer edge portions of the top slats 8 and 9, forming a closed angle. Where the unit packages of merchandise are rectangular in s ape, such for example as boxes of breakfast food, this closed angle protects the upper outer edges of said packages against being crushed or broken open in shipment.

To unpack the crate it is necessary merely to pry off or otherwise remove the side slats l9 and 20, whereupon the end members may be readily pulled away from the top and bottom slats and the packages of merchandise conveniently exposed for handling.

r The crate members may be compactly arranged in a small package for return to the shipper.

Figure 5 shows a slightly modified form of the invention, in which it is desired to pack the commodity in two tiers. In this form of the invention the crate is of such depth as to accommodate two tiers of the packages and additional side slats 22 and 24 are provided, one for each side of the crate which may be secured at such height as to intersect the plane of space between the top of one tier and the bottom of the other so as to retain the packages within the crate,

Figure 6 illustrates two similarcrates in nested position, the socket loops 5 and 1 together with the bottom slats which they retain being seated between the socket loops 3 and 4 and the slats which they retain of the underlying crate. To protect against dust, water or other hazard it is preferred to cover the upper portion of the top crate with a waterproof cover, which is indicated by the reference character 23. 7

Referring now to the modified form of invention shown in Figures 7 and 8, it will be noted in Figure 7 that the projecting socket loops shown in the first described form of the invention may be substituted at least on certain sides of the crate, a for example, the bottom,'by recessed notches 29 overlain by a closure strip 30 which may be of wood, metal or any other desired substance. The dimensions of the notches 29 are such as to fit the ends of the slats which they are designed to receive. 4 i

Figure 7 shows, in connection with the socket loop 25, a longitudinal side slat 26, the end portion of which is provided on its lower side, for example, with a reentrant rabbet 21. The bottom wall 28 of the socket loop 25 is inclined at an angle corresponding to that of the rabbet 21 and the end dimension of the slat 26 is such as to permit said slat to freely pass into the socket loop 25 and to rest with the inclined face of the rabbet 21 seated upon the inclined face of the lower side member 28 of the socket loop 25. The wedge 3l-is then driven in between the upper face of the slat 2'6 and the adjacent face of the socket loop 25, looking the slat 28 in the socket loop 25. Thus, without the employment of any screws, nails or other positive fastening devices, the parts of the crate are held immovably and without any ossibility of end-wise separation.

To knock down this crate it is merely necessary to drive out the wedges, whereupon the ends of the crate may be moved outwardly and the entire crate collapsed.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be a preferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will be understood to those skilled in the art that the specfiic details of construction and arrangement of parts are by way of example and not'to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is: v r

' 1. Knock-down crate comprising a pair of end members having registering socket loops on their top and bottom edges, longitudinal slats having their opposite ends rabbeted to form reduced end portions and abutting sho ulders, said end portions being insertable in said loops, the shoulders abutting against said loops to hold said end members upright and parallel, registering socket loops on opposite sides of said end mem-' bers, securing slats across the sides o said crate between said end members having end portions entering aid last-named socket loops, said end parallel relationship, registering socket loops on the other opposite edges of the end members, securing slats having end portions formed on one side with re-entrant rabbets interlocking with corresponding faces on the last mentioned socket loops and wedge members adapted to seat in said last mentioned socket loops to force the ends of the securing slats into locked relation with their associated loops.

ARTHUR L. KIFF. 

